1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to racks for storing AND TRANSPORTING bicycles and particularly to a rack that permits nesting of bicycles against one another such that several bicycles can be stored in a confined space.
2. Prior Art and Information Disclosure
Bicycling has become a sport in which participants transport their bicycles to various locations to participate in an active schedule of events. A number of types of racks have been designed to facilitate shipment of bicycles. These include racks that are attached to the roofs or rears of automobiles and racks that are bolted to the floor of the bed of pickup trucks. Racks are also typically used in stores to display rows of bicycles. Rows of bicycles are stored in warehouses en route to the marketplace.
Racks are designed to support the bicycle in a standing position separate from other bicycles to avoid contact and entanglement between adjacent bicycles that would damage either one or both bicycles.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,932 to Jay discloses a bicycle rack including a base support member, an elongated vertically extending tubular post secured at a lower end to the base member and slotted at the upper end to receive the crank of a bicycle pedal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,933 to Kalisch discloses a vertically arranged spiral portion of circularly bent pipe such that the front wheels of a bicycle can be positioned between each loop of the spiral thereby securing the bicycle in a vertical position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,986 to Kral discloses interlocking unitary hollow bodies having wheel retaining slots.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,987 to Smiedt discloses a central column including a circular array of vertically extending channels which are open radially outward so that the front wheel of a bicycle can be wheeled onto each channel.
Bike Tight Inc. Paso Robles, Calif. manufactures a rack comprising a base with a single slot for attaching a fixture that maintains alignment of the handle bars with the direction of the slot.
In all of these examples of the prior, the fork is secured such that the handle bar is parallel to the line of bicycles attached to the rack. Furthermore, the bicycles are not staggered in relation to one another. The result of this arrangement is that unused space between neighboring bicycles in the rack equals the approximate length of the handlebar.
It would be desirous to transport bicycles inside motor vehicles such as vans or sports utility vehicles to provide greater security for the bicycles.. Racks that are presently available are not readily suitable in these situations because it is necessary to bolt racks of the present art to a stable surface. This requirement is objectionable to many owners of vehicles not wishing to deface their vehicles by bolt holes.
Furthermore, owners of these vehicles generally do not wish to dedicated the interior of their vehicles to a permanent installation of a rack for transporting bicycles. Generally, after returning from a bicycling event,the owners wish to store their bicycles remote from the vehicles and remove the rack so as to restore the interiors to their original condition.
Another problem with transporting bicycles in the interior of vans and sports utility vehicles is that the space is limited so that the number of bicycles that can be transported in the interior of these vehicles is minimal. Racks of the present state of the art do not lend themselves to making efficient use of these interiors in transporting a plurality of bicycles.